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Mission Update
August/September 2010
Sarah’s
Circle:
one of our
partner agencies in the city that serves women
who are homeless and/or in need of a safe space,
is embarking on a campaign to raise money for
the purchase and renovation of a building. This
building, 4836 N. Sheridan Rd. will be the new
“home” for Sarah’s Circle. The building will
house all of the current programs; provide space
for growth and ten units of permanent,
supportive housing for women with a history of
chronic homelessness. Sarah’s Circle will be
blending multiple sources of funds for the
purchase and renovation which will include the
use of Illinois Housing Development
Authority’s Affordable Housing Tax Credits.
This is the exciting part: through this program,
donors for this project are able to receive a
tax credit against their Illinois income tax
liability, as well as charitable donation on
their federal tax return. Kathy Ragnar, the
Executive Director, will be with us in worship
and sharing during of this amazing opportunity
during fellowship time on Sunday,
September 19.
Please plan to stick around to hear her
presentation and invite a friend to join you.
Fall
Rummage Sale:
September 25
If you are able to assist in the set-up, sale
and/or clean-up, please contact Dawn Neal
[dneal60@prodigy.net],
Beth Jones [bethfjones@comcast.net]
or Laura Johnson [lauraj330@yahoo.com].
Wicker
Park Grace [New Church Development]:
The new Presbyterian Church we have been
supporting in the city is hosting a
fund-raiser
which promises to be one of the hippest events
in the history of our mission partners. This is
no stuffy black-tie affair. The Third Annual
Brew-Ha-Ha, an evening of comedy improv,
featuring Panic Button & Rhythm Method (I don’t
know who they are, either, because I am not
young enough or cool enough, but I trust it will
be a ton of fun)The event is Tuesday,
September 21 at the Chicago Theatre
Building, Stage 733, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Doors
open at 7:00 and the show starts at 7:30pm.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at
www.wickerparkgrace.net. I will be there
and hope to have
a bunch of you join me.
Career
Resource Center:
Celebrating 20 years of service to the
unemployed and underemployed, CRC will be having
a celebration on Wednesday, September 29
from 6:30 pm to 10 pm at Highland Park Country
Club. The dinner will specifically honor
First Presbyterian Church, the “founding
fathers and mothers,” for being the visionaries
who made this all possible. During the
celebration, they will be highlighting our
members who were instrumental in creating,
organizing and running the agency in its early
years and continue to staff the center as
volunteers ever since. A more formal
announcement with ticket sales will be
advertised in early September, but put the date
on your calendar now.
Opportunity
International:
One of our
new mission partners, Opportunity International,
will host its 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference
for people who want to learn more about
microfinance and the work to bring financial
services to people living in poverty in the
developing world.
This conference will be held
October 8, 2010 8:30 am – Saturday, October
9, 2010 12:00 pm EST at the Marriott Crystal
Gateway in Arlington, Virginia.
This is
a wonderful chance to meet Opportunity
International leaders and supporters, learn more
about cutting-edge microfinance products and
services, and hear the amazing stories of
clients who are working their way out of
poverty.
Again, it would be great if one or two
of you could go and come back fired up to share
with our church the ways in which our
partnership with Opportunity can further help
to
end global poverty. The non-refundable $125
registration fee (per person) covers a portion
of the costs for hosting this educational
conference.
As always, they everyone to pay
their own travel and hotel expenses so that more
of their operating budget can go directly to
programs. For more information, contact: Lauren
Jones at
ljones@opportunity.org or 630-242-4153.
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